# Which show or movie really shocked you? Spoilers, obviously. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 4, 2012, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-show-or-movie-really-shocked-you-spoilers-obviously/633601 "2012-09-04T00:52:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2012, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-show-or-movie-really-shocked-you-spoilers-obviously/633601/41 "2012-09-05T22:01:44Z")
Terminator 3. They didn’t stop Skynet? Judgment Day actually happened? Holy shit. Lost. The flash sideways aren’t an alternate timeline but the afterlife? _jaw hits floor_ ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2012, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-show-or-movie-really-shocked-you-spoilers-obviously/633601/42 "2012-09-05T22:37:39Z")
I saw **The Rocky Horror Picture Show** completely cold, along with a few friends who’d never heard of it either. It was just starting to get some real traction on the east coast as a cult film back in 1977. But this wasn’t a special midnight showing, merely a double feature on campus, paired with **Phantom of the Paradise** , which I’d seen before and was dragging my friends to. RHPS played first. Noone in the audience was dressed up, but as soon as the lights went out, 4 or 5 people started crying out “Lips! Lips!” Then suddenly those _lips_ appeared. I and my friends were blown away by the next 90 or so minutes. Sitting through the subsequent showing **Phantom of the Paradise** was pretty anticlimactic, frankly. It was the first RHPS viewing of many, but that first was truly memorable. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2012, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-show-or-movie-really-shocked-you-spoilers-obviously/633601/43 "2012-09-05T23:03:46Z")
**Hard Candy** , starring Ellen Page. She gets a little bit 'O unexpected revenge on a pedophile. mmm ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2012, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-show-or-movie-really-shocked-you-spoilers-obviously/633601/44 "2012-09-05T23:09:13Z")
A lame one, but in Ballykissangel a charcter died just when everything was going right for her and there was no warning that she was going to die. It genuinely shocked and upset me that this Sunday evening TV drama that I’d been half-shamefully watching should end on such a downer. I was never even a big fan of This Life, but a certain character’s death there - she was crossing the road, and bam! - was sudden and realistic and profoundly shocking. In From Dusk Til Dawn it wasn’t the vampires that shocked me, it was Tarantino’s character casually raping and murdering the middle-aged hostage. > [@grude](#): > > I thought the movie was suprisingly realistic, except for casually Lil Zee was able to kill dozens of wealthy and powerful peeps with no real response. No, not a chance, you can kill ghetto dwellers to your hearts content but mug a rich person and they mobilize the military. Wasn’t that because they mobilised the military against one of the other characters that they thought had done said killings? ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2012, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-show-or-movie-really-shocked-you-spoilers-obviously/633601/45 "2012-09-05T23:43:12Z")
Seems to be a lot of Britishy stuff here, which reminded me of Hot Fuzz. I love the movie, but i was pretty shocked the first when it turned from a fish out of water story, then suddenly turned into a dark(but still damn funny) slaughterfest. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2012, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-show-or-movie-really-shocked-you-spoilers-obviously/633601/46 "2012-09-06T00:13:18Z")
The House Of Yes- I need to add this one to the really dark comedy thread, but its not even that funny. The set is a house, the entire movie takes place in said house. A man and his fiancee return to his childhood home and meet his mother and siblings, including his insane sister. There is a shocking turn of events and the ending is predictable yet shocking.:eek: ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2012, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-show-or-movie-really-shocked-you-spoilers-obviously/633601/47 "2012-09-06T00:22:07Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > Also, the ending of **Frailty**. Shocking on its own, then shocking again when you realize that Bill Paxton totally went for the implications of THAT ending and the studio behind him totally approved it. I loved that ending…what a total mindfuck. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2012, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-show-or-movie-really-shocked-you-spoilers-obviously/633601/48 "2012-09-06T02:30:23Z")
> [@RikWriter](#): > > I loved that ending…what a total mindfuck. Can you remind me of the ending? I vaguely remember the movie and it seems I liked it but I don’t remember anything particularly twisty. It might be worth checking out again. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2012, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-show-or-movie-really-shocked-you-spoilers-obviously/633601/49 "2012-09-06T02:40:45Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > Can you remind me of the ending? I vaguely remember the movie and it seems I liked it but I don’t remember anything particularly twisty. It might be worth checking out again. Well, as it turns out, the older brother, who was convinced that his younger brother and father were insane serial killers and who killed his father rather than kill one of the people his father said was a demon turns out to be the serial killer while the younger brother turns out to be Mathew McConaghy’s sherriff character and he turns out to be RIGHT…the people he’s been killing and that his father killed ARE demons…or at least they are all murderous and evil. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2012, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-show-or-movie-really-shocked-you-spoilers-obviously/633601/50 "2012-09-06T02:47:22Z")
> [@RikWriter](#): > > Well, as it turns out, the older brother, who was convinced that his younger brother and father were insane serial killers and who killed his father rather than kill one of the people his father said was a demon turns out to be the serial killer while the younger brother turns out to be Mathew McConaghy’s sherriff character and he turns out to be RIGHT…the people he’s been killing and that his father killed ARE demons…or at least they are all murderous and evil. Ooooooh, it’s sort of coming back to me. Off to put it in my Netflix queue. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Battle\_Pope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@Battle\_Pope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Battle_Pope)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2012, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-show-or-movie-really-shocked-you-spoilers-obviously/633601/51 "2012-09-06T02:51:05Z")
The ending of _The Mist_. That crushing realisation of what has happened and the timing of it all. Not sure about ‘shocking’ as I was expecting, it but _Schindlers List_ was damn hard to watch. I have only seen it once on VHS - it came as a 2-tape set. I got through the first half of the film one night before needing a break and going back to finish watching the next evening. The D-Day landings in _Saving Private Ryan_ would fall under the same category. ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2012, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-show-or-movie-really-shocked-you-spoilers-obviously/633601/52 "2012-09-06T02:55:09Z")
In the movie _Serenity_ (based on the SF series written by Josh Whedon) when Wash, the pilot, is impaled after successfully crash landing the ship. “I am a leaf on the wind” ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2012, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-show-or-movie-really-shocked-you-spoilers-obviously/633601/53 "2012-09-06T03:14:48Z")
On\* L.A. Law\* when uberbitch Rosalind Shays steps into the elevator shaft. Now that was some delightfully cheesy TV! The Statue of Liberty scene in the original _Planet of the Apes_. I know i’s plot holes and inconceivabilites have been dissected here, but it sure made a big impression on my tender young mind. And, more of a question than a comment, but were audiences who saw _China Town_ shocked by the "…she’s my daughter \ she’s my sister \…"scene? By the time I saw it I was already aware of the line / seen film clips, so even though I originally didn’t know the context of the line, it wasn’t too hard to put it together by the time it came up. It seems like it should have been a great twist, but I’ll never get to experience it. ---
**Author:** ![Beastly\_Rotter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@Beastly\_Rotter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beastly_Rotter)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2012, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-show-or-movie-really-shocked-you-spoilers-obviously/633601/54 "2012-09-06T05:56:40Z")
_Pan’s Labyrinth_. Terrific movie, but the unrelenting brutality just left me drained and numb by the end. And I still think Del Toro was wrong, it _was_ all in her head as a means of coping with the horror around her. ---
**Author:** ![PeacePlease](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/71c47a/32.png) [@PeacePlease](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PeacePlease)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2012, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-show-or-movie-really-shocked-you-spoilers-obviously/633601/55 "2012-09-06T07:37:05Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > I went into the movie knowing there was a twist but not what it was. I was so totally engrossed in the movie that I forgot to look for the twist. It knocked me for a loop too. If I had seen it on TV I probably wouldn’t have been so into the movie and been able to figure it out. I still think its a great movie. A big YUP. I was blown away. But then I don’t often pick up on “clues” in film. Great, great movie with stunning performances by both Bruce and Toni Colette. ---
**Author:** ![PeacePlease](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/71c47a/32.png) [@PeacePlease](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PeacePlease)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2012, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-show-or-movie-really-shocked-you-spoilers-obviously/633601/56 "2012-09-06T07:39:42Z")
> [@Battle\_Pope](#): > > The ending of _The Mist_. That crushing realization of what has happened and the timing of it all. Double post, sorry! But this is another one. Just AWESOME. It is so very, very rare that Hollywood will let a “sad” ending in a film. This one was superb. Especially since the story did not end that way! LOVED, loved it! ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2012, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-show-or-movie-really-shocked-you-spoilers-obviously/633601/57 "2012-09-06T08:09:51Z")
Fullmetal Alchemist and its (semi-)remake Brotherhood. Night of the Chimera’s Cry/An Alchemist’s Anguish. The latter, by the way, is [free on Hulu](http://www.hulu.com/watch/168219). Now don’t get me wrong, it’s not particularly twisty, if you’re paying attention you’ve figured it out a quarter way through the episode. Well, at least you figure out what he did and what he’s going to TRY, not that he’s going to succeed. What you see is a man, afraid of being thrust back into poverty, irreversibly fuse his daughter and his dog together, full well knowing that at best she’d be a lab specimen for the rest of her life. Knowing that the last time he did this to his wife (to become a State Alchemist in the first place), the only thing the creation said was “I want to die”, and refused to eat. But it’s not just that, it’s the cries of the chimera, asking “big brother play?” It’s the main character freaking out at the realization and beating the snot out of the guy who did this to his little girl while the creature screams “Daddy hurt! Don’t hurt daddy!” A father intentionally destroyed his daughter’s life in one of the most horrendous ways imaginable, for pure personal gain, and any retribution done to him is still being observed by a little girl not understanding why people are hurting her daddy. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2012, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-show-or-movie-really-shocked-you-spoilers-obviously/633601/58 "2012-09-06T13:15:49Z")
> [@Battle\_Pope](#): > > Not sure about ‘shocking’ as I was expecting, it but _Schindlers List_ was damn hard to watch. I have only seen it once on VHS - it came as a 2-tape set. I got through the first half of the film one night before needing a break and going back to finish watching the next evening. > > The D-Day landings in _Saving Private Ryan_ would fall under the same category. Both _Schindlers List_ and the D-Day landings in _Saving Private Ryan_ contain scenes that were partly inspired by _Come and See_. Which, to my mind at least, far outdoes them both in the shocking department. It is also, famously, a damn hard movie to watch - it makes _Schindlers List_ look like a Disney film. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2012, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-show-or-movie-really-shocked-you-spoilers-obviously/633601/59 "2012-09-06T13:27:24Z")
Another vote for _The Sixth Sense_, but mostly for the little girl in the tent. Why was _The Red Violin_ red? That was pretty much a “holy crap” moment. And in the 2nd season of _24_, when the cute blonde sister turned out to be a terrorist – well, I was a _24_ newbie at the time, so things like that still shocked me. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2012, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-show-or-movie-really-shocked-you-spoilers-obviously/633601/60 "2012-09-06T14:45:40Z")
> [@Alias](#): > > The twists and turns at the end of The Prestige, but mainly the reveal that Hugh Jackman’s character has been duplicating and drowning himself multiple times for the sake of a magic trick. That movie floored me. I was not prepared for the reveals, the details, or the foreshadowing. The opening shot of the movie with the top hats on the ground and the later implications of this surreal shot have stuck with me for years. Wow. I’ve been waiting for another movie to wow me like that one. I enjoyed it, (its a Nolan film so of course it’s well done) but unfortunately I know just a smidge about the history of magic so as soon as I saw a certain character and their behaviour I could see what was coming. The ending seemed rather odd to me as well. Surely, once it was clear what Tesla’s machine was doing then Jackman’s version of the trick was obvious and so the basement reveal at the end didn’t tell us anything we didn’t know already. Good film anyway, and if you don’t know anything about that type of trick then I can imagine it packs a punch. The shocking scenes that stick in my mind are mostly from my childhood and in order of ascending trauma I’d have to say “Them”, “Alien”, “The Wicker Man” and, somewhat surprisingly, “Ring of Bright Water” (I was very young at the time) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-show-or-movie-really-shocked-you-spoilers-obviously/633601.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-show-or-movie-really-shocked-you-spoilers-obviously/633601.md?page=4)